Golf clubs



Jan. 17, 1961 Q .J. WALTON I GOLF CLUBS Filed July 50, 1959 INVENTOR.

chaise/714617012.

ATTOP/VEX United States Patent GOLF CLUBS Jackson Walton, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Box 81,

x 1499 Lakeshore Road E., Lakeview, Port Credit, 0n-

tario, Canada) Filed July 30, 1959, Ser. No. 830,581

2 Claims. (Cl. 273-173) I This invention relates to golf clubs and is particularly directed to providing improvements in the type of golf clubs usually known as woods.

In driving a golf ball from a tee or from the fairway with a wood, the cover of the ball may be cut by the top or the bottom edge of the club head as a result of hitting the ball too low or too high. Damaged or deformed golf balls are usually unplayable and constitute a source of added expense in participating in the game in addition, of course, to adding strokes to the players game.

The present invention is particularly directed to providing improvements in the club head which are designed to overcome the damaging effects on the ball when it is struck improperly. These improvements are in the form of slightly resilient, slightly rounded strips or inserts which are secured along the top and bottom edges of the exposed face of the club head.

An understanding of this invention can be obtained from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a wood club head which embodies the improvement of the present invention;

Figure 2 is an end elevation which illustrates the rounded exposed faces of the strips;

Figure 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a preferred form of strip; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a wood club head which illustrates an alternative embodiment of the invention.

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the description of the invention and the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, the golf club illustrated in Figure 1 is of standard or conventional design and is comprised of a shaft 15 and a head 6. A striker plate 14 is secured to the face of the club head according to conventional practice.

The strips or inserts 7 and 8, which constitute the improvement of this invention are, as shown in Figure 2,968,486 Patented Jan. 17, 1961 4, formed of material which is softer and more resilient than the cover of the golf ball. Material such as rubber, plastic and the like, which provide a cushioning effect if the ball is struck by the top or bottom edge of the club head is satisfactory.

In the modification illustrated in Figures 1 through 4,

the strip is in the form of a generally V-shaped pad with a rounded, forward or exposed edge. The top and bottom edges of the club can be provided with shallow longitudinally extending slots of a depth sufficient to receive the strips with the exposed, rounded edge thereof projecting slightly beyond the face of the club head. The strips or inserts can be adhesively or otherwise slightly secured in these slots.

In the modification of the invention illustrated in Figure 5, a strip 12, formed of resilient material, is designed to overlie the top and bottom edges of the club head. That is, a portion of the strip is adhesively or otherwise secured along the top or the bottom of the club head and extends downwardly and upwardly a short distance along the face of the club with the latter edges preferably underlying the edges of the striker plate. The exposed portions of these strips which lie along the face of the club can be formed of extra thickness or can be padded to extend slightly beyond the face of the striker plate to contact the cover of the ball in the event that it is struck improperly.

The improved golf club of this invention has the important advantage that if the ball is struck properly, it does not, in any way, interfere with the distance usually obtained by the player in his drive. However, if the ball is hit either too high or too low, the cover of the ball is not cut by the bottom or top edges of the club.

It will be understood, of course, that modifications can be made in the preferred embodiments of the invention described and illustrated herein without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A golf club of the woods type having a striker plate attached to the driving face of the club, and narrow resilient strips projecting out over the striker plate on the top and bottom thereof, the exposed face of the resilient strips being rounded.

2. The golf club according to claim 1 in which the resilient strips are substantially V-shaped and are inserted into complementary V-slots in the driving face of the golf club.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,203,250 Ogilvie Oct. 31, 1916 1,437,463 Boye Dec. 5, 1922 2,774,600 Reach Dec. 18, 1956 

